I haven't posted any games or battle reports of my Dark Eldar lately and I'm sorry. Most of my games for DE have been quite short (delicious and sinister victory) so I don't think I needed to post. I will, however, share with you some of my lists that I've been using. One of the more fascinating things about playing DE lately is that I've noticed one important thing: DE tend to be better at smaller games. I think as the points go up, the stronger some armies get. The best example of this would be IG, since their vehicles, armor and firepower seems to scale exponentially. Another example would be Grey Knights, but that's because they can't fit in their Paladins combination with a full set of Psyflemen. Most of my games as of late with DE has been 1500 and the occasional 1750. I'm beginning to enjoy the smaller games a lot more now, and it's mainly because I find the tactical aspects a lot more challenging. I also feel that I'm actually able to outmaneuver my opponents since they don't have a billion units on the field and I can take advantage of terrain more.
Shit, look what I've done. Now that we're on the principle of smaller games vs. larger ones, let me share something with you guys. I've played 40K for a very long at the 2K level. In fact, that's pretty much the standard around here for years. For me, I find any game of 40K tactically involved with specific armies. Since Dark Eldar is a glass cannon in its purest, I have to use terrain, baiting, different scales of pressure and raw guile to achieve victory more so than any other army. I am able to do this to higher levels of effectiveness at lower point levels than I am on higher ones. The eliteness of some armies also start to sign through more at lower point games because there's a ton of models missing from the table. Paladins weigh in a lot more at this level and the loss of a Psyfleman Dread weighs down anti-tank firepower considerably.
From my experience playing smaller games as of late, I must say that the two are completely different animals. A lot of people say that lower point games offers a greater tactical challenge because every loss is critically felt and unit preservation is more important. For me, I can see the point they're trying to make, but I don't think it's 100% accurate. I always play to the fullest and I think a true test to someone's generalship is being able to lead armies to victory regardless of point range. Sure, you have more to play with, but it also means you're also micromanaging more units period. The stress of mental fortitude should increase and no general should view things as fodder. Every unit should have a role on the battlefield. This mentality probably stems from my RTS background where smaller battles and armies was actually a lot easier for me to manage, and where micro becomes even more important. It is the larger games that taxes your macro more. Think of your ability to take command of a army like the dough you use to make a pizza. The larger the pizza, the thinner you have to spread the dough; this demonstrates your capacity to multi-task.
Eureka! Maybe this is why smaller games has been more enjoyable for me lately: Smaller games reminds me of micro wars. In micro wars, you're given a handful of units and your sole purpose was to out-control/out-micro your opponent. Every move, every unit, every action is important and that's what I loved more about micro wars vs. playing an actual game and progressing to late game where we threw armies into each other. With that said, 1500 feels like a skirmish and 2000 feels like war. Smaller games is simply using your generalship abilities on a smaller scale.. so less just less multi-tasking on the same brain piloting the army.
Anyways, I've gone on enough about that. Let's talk about my Dark Eldar army lists:
1500
14 kp
HQ:
Archon (Agonizer, Blaster, SF, Drugs) = 135
TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
10x Warriors (Raider NS/FF, Blaster, SC) = 195
9x Wyches (Raider NS/FF, Hekatrix/Agonizer/BP) = 215
10x Wyches (Raider NS/FF, Hekatrix/Agonizer/BP) = 225
10x Wyches (Raider NS/FF, Hekatrix/Agonizer/BP) = 225
HEAVY:
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
Ravager (NS/FF) = 125
1750
-10x Warriors in Raider, +5x Warriors in Raider
+2x 3x Trueborn in Venoms w/ Blasters
2000
-Archon, for +Asdrubael Vect
+Add a Succubus w/ Agonizer for extra CC
-5x Warriors in Raider, +max out Elites with 3x Trueborn w/ Blasters in Venoms
As you can see, I don't take any Venoms until I start hitting games past the 1500 mark. To most DE players, this seems very strange and it is. No Haemoculi to spread FNP, no Blasterborns in Venoms, this guy must be nuts! Well, I like the long range AT capabilities that the Raiders give me and I have enough CC in the lists to really put on the hurt to anything I please. The objective is to get people out of their transports and then bring in the hurt with CC. In order for me to achieve success with this type of list, I need to play near flawless and supreme tactical acumen. To see what I mean, check out this link.
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